Tag - Mpr

Hot Topic, Inc. (Nasdaq:HOTT), Republic Airways Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq:RJET) and Mothers Work Inc. (Nasdaq:MWRK) are among the biggest percentage losers in Wednesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.           

Also included among the results: Met-Pro Corp. (Nasdaq:MPR), PowerSecure International Inc. (Nasdaq:POWR), Gateway Financial Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq:GBTS), Transcat Inc. (Nasdaq:TRNS), Integral System Inc. (Nasdaq:ISYS) and Innovative Solutions and Support Inc. (Nasdaq:ISSC).     

Here are the biggest percentage losers among small caps:  

Crawford (Nasdaq:CRD.B), Transact Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq:TACT) and US Physical Therapy Inc. (Nasdaq:USPH) are among the new 52-week highs in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.  

Also included among the results: K-Tron International Inc. (Nasdaq:KTII), NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq:NPSP), Almost Family Inc. (Nasdaq:AFAM), Xerium Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq:XRM), Met-Pro Corp. (Nasdaq:MPR) and Farmers Capital Bank Corp. (Nasdaq:FFKT).    

Here are the new 52-week highs among small caps:  

In the stock market, as in nature, it takes time to recover from a fire. This year, Met-Pro Corporation (NYSE:MPR) has been recovering from a fire sale.

Harleysville, Penn.-based Met-Pro is a pollution control firm that helps corporations and organizations clean up their own messes. It won't solve global warming, but governments around the world are increasingly pressuring industries to make their processes more environmentally friendly, and that has been good for business, even in a lousy economy.

But the fan hit the spark in January of this year, when the company announced the discovery that in 2006, one of its sales people had been booking revenues early. The sales person was fired, and Met-Pro had to restate earnings for several quarters of fiscal 2007 (ended Jan. 31, 2007), shifting some earnings from one quarter to the next, although total earnings for the year remained the same.

The market burned the stock. It lost over 16% of its value in little more than a month — closing at $9.83 on Feb. 6, down from a close of $12.02 the previous Dec. 31. "The reaction was extreme," says Ryan Connors at Boenning & Scattergood Inc. in a phone interview.
 
The stock has since made an equally strong recovery, shooting back up to $13.44 at Tuesday’s closing. Its 52-week low was $9.30 and its high was $15.25. Its market cap is $202 million.

Connors thinks it has further to go. He maintains a "market outperform" rating and a $14 price target. Richard A Verdi of Sturdivant & Co. is even more optimistic. On May 23, he reiterated his "market outperform" rating and raised his target price to $16 from $14.

Met-Pro is divided into three segments that help keep the world clean. Its pollution control products include air scrubbers, exhaust systems, dust and particulate matter collectors, and water treatment chemicals to help reduce air pollution, avoid contaminating water and reduce odors. The fluid-handling segment makes specialized pumps and filters to move and treat corrosive fluids, including acids, solvents, caustics, bleaches and seawater, as well as extremely hot oil and water. The filtration and purification technologies segment produces water treatment chemicals and filters that help reduce chemicals and metals such as iron, lead and copper from . . .

Small-cap shares opened flat and then edged higher, underpinned by news of a big-cap energy acquisition, a firm tone in the dollar, and ideas that Wednesday’s post-FOMC minutes slide was overdone. At 9:52 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was up 2.46, or 0.34%, at 729.56.

News that NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) tendered a bid to buy Calpine Corp. (NYSE:CPN) for a stock deal worth $11 billion injected some enthusiasm back into the M&A picture this morning, and played a supportive role in market psychology. Calpine shares were up 7.1% shortly after the opening on the news. If there are large-cap merger deals to be done, then there are certainly bargains to be had within small caps.

There are several apparel retailers coming out with earnings today, which could ripple through the markets. Children’s Place Retail Stores (Nasdaq:PLCE), which is right on the upper end of small-cap market capitalization, reported solid quarterly results this morning and the stock was up 6.2% right after the open.

Large caps in the news early today include Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), which tumbled 1% on the opening on news that its anti-smoking drug had serious side effects. Also, NetApp Inc. (Nasdaq:NTAP) tumbled 5.7% as the company’s forward projections disappointed.

Crude oil prices shot above $135 dollars a barrel overnight, and continue to be a drag on the both the consumer pocketbook and the cost structure for corporations (just ask the battered airline industry). Goldman Sachs technical analyst Kevin Edgeley said in a research report overnight that crude oil momentum and trend strength are pointing higher, and that there is a long-term channel extension target for crude at $142.90. If crude oil were to close lower today, and well off that $135 record overnight peak, it could generate a topping reversal on charts, and is worth . . .